1954-Summer Construction gets under way and Disneyland begins to emerge from the surrounding bean fields and orange groves of Anaheim.
1955-July 17 The opening day ceremonies are beamed coast-to-coast in a TV special. One of the hosts: actor Ronald Wilson Reagan.
1956-October Attendance hits the five million mark; the Skyway, Tom Sawyer Island, Storybook Land attractions open this year.
1957 ...

A year-long celebration begins on New Year's Day with a special pre-show at the Rose Parade. On January 11, Art Linkletter and Bob Cummings-who were emcees at the 1955 opening ceremonies-will join Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner for a rededication of Disneyland. Disneyland guests will find other exciting birthday festivities in the Park, with such highlights as "The Dream Machine," a year-long ...

A small fire closed the Disneyland monorail system for almost two hours, but no one was hurt, officials said. The fire started in a fiberglass awning that hangs between the monorail and the street near the Disneyland Hotel station, park spokesman Paul Goldman said. The 2.5-mile monorail system shut down automatically when the fire broke out. No one was in the area and no injuries were reported. A section ...

An 8-year-old girl was hit in the back by an apparent stray bullet Sunday as she rode as open-car tram through the Fantasyland section of Disneyland.
Anaheim Police Lt. John Cross said the shot apparently was fired from outside the park about 6 p.m. but there were no reports of shootings in the area.
Nayeli Diana Placentia of Downey was in guarded condition in the pediatrics intensive care unit at ...

Anaheim police said Monday they may never know who fired the shot Sunday that hit an 8-year-old Downey girl visiting Disneyland. But they said they believe the shot was fired in the air by someone outside the park.
Meanwhile, Nayeli Diana Placentia's condition was upgraded from guarded to fair. She is expected to be hospitalized several more days.
"She's alert and awake," said Fran Tardiff, hospital ...

The Walt Disney Co. is considering putting next to Disneyland a new theme park that would be similar to Florida's popular EPCOT Center, Disney officials revealed.
Disney Chairman Michael Eisner announced last January that the company plans to spend $1 billion building another Southern California theme park in the near future, either adjacent to Disneyland in Anaheim or next to the Queen Mary in Long ...

Honest, Abe, Disneyland says you haven't worn out your welcome. At least for now. The amusement park has revised its decision to close the "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" exhibit Sunday, park spokesman Bob Roth said Friday.
The park told the Associated Press last week that the exhibit, set in the Main Street Opera House and featuring a robot replica of the 16th president, was being closed for ...

Abe Lincoln, a fixture at Disneyland for 25 years, may be deposed by Kermit the Frog and the Muppet gang.
"Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" which features a robot replica of the 16th U.S. president will be closed Aug. 26, with no reopening date set. Disneyland spokesman Bob Roth said Friday.
Roth said he could not comment on employee contentions that a 3-D movie featuring the late Jim Henson's Muppet ...

One of Walt Disney's hobbies was the collecting of miniatures, and this hobby actually helped bring about Disneyland. For years Walt had been collecting tiny furniture and household items and displaying them in little room settings. Out of this collection came an idea for a miniature Americana display with dioramas that would travel the country by truck and teach people about how life in the United States ...

February 12, 1990 6:08 p.m.:--Nayeli Diana Placentia, 8, from Downey, was hit in the back by an apparent stray bullet as she rode the Disneyland Railroad in the Fantasyland section of the Anaheim park. The train was pulling to a stop at the Videopolis train station
The girl's parents, whose names were not released, took her to Western Medical Center-Anaheim, where doctors discovered the bullet ...

October 1990:--A construction worker at Disneyland is critically injured when he falls 30 feet from scaffolding in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
[MickeyMousePark: We are unable to find an exact date for this ...